The present invention generally relates to cribs and bassinets and, more particularly, relates to portable and foldable cribs and bassinets.
Bassinets have been used in the care of infants for centuries. Such devices typically include an oblong-shaped basket having a floor, raised walls, and an open top. A mattress and/or other suitable cushioning are typically provided within the basket for enhancing the comfort of the child. The basket is often provided on some form of stand to elevate the level of the basket for ease of use.
As families have become increasingly mobile, it has become increasingly desirable to provide a portable bassinet to accommodate this mobility. However, given the shape of the oblong basket, height of the supporting stand, and structural integrity and weight limitations required of such devices, bassinets do not easily lend themselves to transformation into dimensionally small and light weight units for ease of transportation and/or storage.
A number of foldable playpens and cribs have been created. However, to the extent such structures include a foldable floor, they typically rely on support afforded by the ground on which they rest to maintain a horizontal floor position. If elevated, the ground would provide no support, and the floor would tend to invert given a sufficiently heavy load. Alternatively, centralized support structure must be provided below the foldable floor. Such structure necessarily imposes undesirable size and weight penalties on the device.
In accordance with one aspect of the invention, a bassinet is provided which comprises a frame, a floor, and a flexible sidewall. The frame includes a top member with first and second legs and first and second rims pivotally attached thereto. The frame is foldable from an erected position wherein the rims are parallel to the top member to a folded position wherein the rims are non-parallel to the top member. The floor supported below the rims includes first and second halves connected by a hinge. The first and second halves are foldable downwardly about the hinge, but the hinge prevents folding of the first and second halves upwardly about the hinge. The flexible sidewall connects the first and second floor halves to the first and second rims, respectively. The first and second rims and the sidewalls prevent the first and second halves of the floor from being downwardly folded about the hinge when the frame is in the erected position.
In accordance with another aspect of the invention, a bassinet is provided which comprises a frame, and a foldable floor. The foldable floor is supported by the frame and connected by a center hinge. The center hinge is suspended without any structure directly therebelow.
In accordance with another aspect of the invention, a bassinet is provided which comprises a top member, first and second legs pivotally attached to the top member, first and second rims pivotally attached to the top member, first and second tension bars connecting the first leg to the first rim and the second leg to the second rim, respectively, a flexible wall extending downwardly from the first and second rims, a foldable floor supported in a substantially horizontal plane by the flexible wall below the first and second rims to define a crib space with the flexible wall, and a hinge connecting first and second halves of the foldable floor. The hinge also prevents upward folding of the floor, while the tension bars, rims, and flexible wall prevent downward folding of the floor.